Good morning from Disney’s Hollywood Studios, where a second large crane has arrived at the Monsters Inc. Door Vault roller coaster construction site. While the first crane showed up in February, this second crane will likely kick work into high gear as Walt Disney World continues to demonstrate an impressive construction pace across a number of high-profile projects. Here’s the latest!
Second Crane Signals Accelerating Progress on the Monsters Inc. Door Vault Coaster at Hollywood Studios
In This Article
- Second large crane spotted at the Monsters Inc. Door Vault roller coaster construction site
- Visible from the guest parking lot and multiple locations inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Non-traditional vertical structures rising at the site alongside coaster columns
- Construction viewable from Echo Lake, Toy Story Land, Galaxy’s Edge, and Grand Avenue
- Monstropolis is one of several major Walt Disney World projects currently underway
We’ll start our photo update with a look at the cranes as seen from the guest parking lot at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This vantage point looks west, across the Cast Member parking lot toward the Monsters Inc. roller coaster site, more than a half mile away. From this point of view, we can also see the first vertical structures rising that are not traditional roller coaster columns, a notable milestone for the project.
As we’ve covered, coaster support column installation began back in April, with those columns visible even from the distant guest parking lot. The arrival of a second large crane suggests Disney is ready to ramp up the pace of steel installation considerably.
Views From Inside the Park
From inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios, guests can now see both cranes, with the newer one appearing further in the distance and slightly smaller from within the park. Construction sightlines are available from a number of locations spread across the park.
Views include:
- Areas around Echo Lake
- From within Toy Story Land
- Multiple vantage points throughout Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
- Along Grand Avenue, looking past the Monstropolis construction walls
It is a testament to the sheer scale of this project that the construction is visible from so many varied spots inside the park. Monstropolis is being built on the site of the former Muppets Courtyard, extending into a section of the Cast Member parking lot to accommodate the massive ride footprint.
What Is the Monsters Inc. Door Vault Roller Coaster?
For those catching up, the Monsters Inc. Door Vault roller coaster will be Disney’s first-ever suspended coaster and will also feature a first-of-its-kind vertical lift system. The attraction is themed to the iconic door vault sequence from Pixar’s original Monsters, Inc. film, placing guests inside a suspended vehicle as they race through the factory’s legendary door storage system.
The ride was first announced at the 2024 D23 Expo, along with the broader Monstropolis land, which will also feature a new theater and additional dining and retail experiences. As we reported, aerial photos from Bioreconstruct revealed early structural steel rising at the site, making this second crane’s arrival a natural next step in the escalating construction timeline.
A Busy Time for Walt Disney World Construction
The Monsters Inc. Door Vault coaster is one of several massive construction efforts currently underway across Walt Disney World property. Other projects in various stages of development include Disney’s Lakeshore Lodge near Wilderness Lodge, the new Piston Peak land at Magic Kingdom, Villains Land also at Magic Kingdom, and Tropical Americas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It is a remarkable moment for the resort, and the construction activity visible across Hollywood Studios is a vivid reminder of how much is in the pipeline.
OUR TAKE: This Summer feels like we’re standing on the edge, looking at years and years of new lands and attractions coming to Walt Disney World. It’s encouraging to see the construction pace across these projects, signaling not only the previously mentioned “turbocharge” monetary investment, but a real workforce investment too.
A second crane arriving at the Monstropolis site is encouraging. While we still think that the new Monsters Inc. land will be a 2028 project, we expect to see some real progress for the remainder of this year and into next. It’s looking like the Tropical Americas project could be a late 2027 opening, but we’d imagine that Disney will want to have Monstropolis open by Summer 2028 – something that is well within reach at the current pace.
For more on the upcoming Monstropolis Monsters Inc. Land, including the latest news, photos, and info, check out our dedicated page for the project below!
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!